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Previous assistant to replace varsity soccer head coach

Former STA varsity assistant soccer coach Jeremy McElduff has replaced four-time state champion head coach Scott Siegel for the 2011 season, after Siegel resigned following the 2010 season. McElduff feels confident in his new role since this will be his ninth year with the STA soccer program.

‘My approach with the team is going to be the same, regardless of coaching this team or a completely new team,’ McElduff said. ‘However, I would not want to pass up the chance to continue working with this particular group of girls.’

At the beginning of the 2010 season, Siegel informed athletic director Mark Hough that he would not be returning as the head coach due to a new full-time job.

As head coach for ten of years, Siegel coached numerous successful players including four alum who won the 2010 College Cup National Championship with the Notre Dame women’s soccer team. Siegel was also named 2005 Missouri private coach of the year and 2006 NSCAA/Adidas regional Coach of the Year for Midwest private schools.

McElduff was disappointed but not surprised that Siegel chose to step down.

‘I was sad because we have been working together for a long time and we are very close,’ McElduff said. ‘We always worked well together and I feel that we complemented each other.’

The athletic department began the search and interviews for the available position at the beginning of last summer. According to Hough, McElduff’s close connections to STA students and families set him apart from other candidates for the open position.

‘I will be interested to see how he responds as a head coach,’ Hough said. ‘I have only seen him in the assistant coach capacity with the girls but after his interviews and talking with some of the girls on the team, I think he is going to be a pretty good fit.’

Senior Cele Fryer, left, and coach Jeremy McElduff converse during the first soccer open gym Jan. 31 in the Goppert Center.

McElduff is currently a Spanish teacher and the junior varsity soccer coach at Rockhurst High School.

Senior Caroline Gray feels that McElduff’s knowledge of soccer and teaching skills will be a positive addition to the varsity team.

‘[McElduff] just knows the game, plain and simple,’ Gray said, ‘He understands where we’re coming from. If we make a mistake, he gets on us but he also corrects us, teaches us, and tells us what to do better.’

According to Gray, the biggest change from previous seasons will be that practices will become much more demanding. McElduff has already made other changes which include encouraging more off-season training through weight programs. The soccer program will also be hosting Sunday evening open gym sessions beginning Jan. 30 for all players trying out for the team.

McElduff hopes that in the upcoming season, the varsity team will regain a belief in themselves.

‘We didn’t ultimately achieve all the goals we set for ourselves [last year], but I think it was a step in the right direction for the program as a whole,’ McElduff said. ‘I hope to continue that positive movement because it is amazing what belief in the team, oneself, and each other can do for a team and program.’

Hough believes that McElduff’s biggest struggle will be making a transition from his previous position as assistant coach and making decisions that need to made without influence from past seasons.

‘We’ll see how he goes through the year and how he does on implementing those [changes],’ Hough said. ‘That is where I wish him the best of luck in getting the team to understand that we’re going to run things his way, not how he did things under Coach Siegel.’

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